Open AccessUsing Kinetic Energy with Potential Energy When Determining Power During the Stair Climbing Test
Author(s) -
James R. Roush,
John Heick,
Joseph Genovese,
Kyle Kurashima,
Dallin Yarrington
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the internet journal of allied health sciences and practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1540-580X
DOI - 10.46743/1540-580x/2020.1928
Subject(s) - stair climbing , stairs , climbing , power (physics) , climb , confidence interval , kinetic energy , simulation , electricity meter , mathematics , statistics , physical therapy , computer science , medicine , engineering , physics , structural engineering , thermodynamics , quantum mechanics
Stair climbing is an important functional task that indicates independence, and generating power to climb stairs is a vital component of this task. Power during stair climbing is traditionally calculated using potential energy (PE), but it may be important to determine power expended using kinetic energy (KE). Purpose: The current study assessed power output for stair climbing with and without the inclusion of KE. Methods: Sixty participants (21-35 years) climbed a 12-step stairway with a 2-meter acceleration phase before the first step and a 2-meter deceleration phase after the last step. Participants completed 3 trials, and average time was used for calculating energy expended and power. Results: The mean difference between power from PE and total power was 6.16 W (SD = 2.50, t29 = 13.49, p < 0.001) for males and 64.76 W (SD = 2.90, t29 = 8.99, p < 0.001) for females. Agreement between power calculated from PE and total power was 0.99 (95% confidence interval = 0.98-1.0). Conclusion: Power calculated using PE and KE was significantly different from using PE alone, which may be clinically important. When conducting stair-climbing tests, both PE and KE may be necessary for the most accurate assessment of power.